The number of critical incidents involving patients who suffer from mental health and/or substance abuse issues has decreased nearly 30 percent since 2006, according to Prince William County statistics.
There were 108 critical incidents — defined as death, serious injury, serious illness, or loss of consciousness requiring medical attention by the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services — in fiscal 2006. That number dropped to 93 the following year and to 77 in fiscal 2008, which ended June 30, according to a recent report by the county’s Office of Consumer and Family Affairs.
Incidents included accidents, illnesses, attempted suicides, deaths, medication errors, missing persons, overdoses and seizures.
The incidents involve patients who receive outpatient services, said Cora Swett, the consumer relations coordinator for Prince William’s Community Services Board.
The office reported 26 incidents from April 1 to June 30. There were nine accident-illnesses, three attempted suicides, five deaths, four medication errors, and five accidental overdoses. The deaths were all of natural causes, and the medication errors did not harm any patients, the report said.
“Staffing is a critical factor,” said Tom Geib, executive director of Prince William’s Community Services Board. “If your staff is stable, you’ll have fewer incidents, and if there’s more turnover, you may see a spike in the incidents.”
Swett, though, said it is difficult to determine a wider relationship, since the report included figures from 29 contracted vendors.
“There’s just no way to know that — people are the way they are,” she said. “If [the incident] is something that somebody might question, they report it so people know what’s going on. The board has struggled with what this shows them as well.”
She added that particularly high or low numbers could be misleading, in that a vendor with a high number of reported incidents might be forced to deal with a greater number of patients — or more difficult patients — than other agencies.
“There’s a lot of variances — you can’t say, ‘Wow, you need to get on that vendor,’ ” she said.
The key, Geib said, was the board’s response to the reported incidents, which often involve investigations.
“We follow up and make sure folks know we’re following through,” he said.
